Chapter 16

"Medicine! Medicine!"

As night fell, Zhao Tiezhu stood at the village entrance, shouting loudly.

Five members of the Warrior Training Camp set up a long table, on which were placed five large round sieves.

These sieves were made of bamboo strips and were usually used for drying dates and herbs.

At this moment, three of the five large sieves were already full.

The herbal gatherers lined up to hand over their herbs. An old man with a goatee identified the age and rarity of each herb, then weighed them with a small scale and recorded the results.

When it was Yi Yun and Jiang Xiaorou's turn, Yi Yun slowly handed over his harvest.

The old man with the goatee glanced at the herbs and his eyes lit up, "Dan Guo! Wu Lingzhi! Wu Lingcao! Wild Ginseng! Good herbs!"

The old man, seeing these precious herbs, handled them like treasures, constantly caressing them.

Yi Yun, watching from the side, felt relieved. This old man clearly knew his herbs, but he couldn't tell that the herbs had already been drained of their medicinal power by the Purple Crystal.

This was understandable; herbs that had been drained by the Purple Crystal looked no different from freshly picked, intact herbs.

"Hehe, you're lucky, boy! Your food for today is saved!"

Zhao Tiezhu, seeing the herbs, was very satisfied.

If they collected high-quality herbs, they could earn praise from Lian Chengyu!

When Lian Chengyu rose to power, they, as his lackeys, could also benefit, perhaps even get a job in the big city!

"I think you're quite suited to be a medicine boy, naturally good at gathering herbs. Letting you gather herbs is like using your talent to the fullest!"

"Last time you didn't die from the fall, but now you're getting better at gathering herbs. I think you should meet this standard and hand over an additional two ounces of herbs tomorrow!"

Zhao Tiezhu spoke casually while digging his ear.

"What!?"

Jiang Xiaorou was furious. Sixteen ounces of herbs was already a stretch, and Zhao Tiezhu wanted even more!

Although Jiang Xiaorou knew that Yi Yun was fast at gathering herbs and could handle a bit more, if this continued, Zhao Tiezhu would keep pushing, eventually causing trouble!

"Commander Zhao, you're joking. These herbs are the limit of what I can gather in a whole day of hard work."

Yi Yun's tone was particularly slow. As he spoke, his peripheral vision caught the three sieves full of herbs.

A layer of light points was slowly rising from the surface of the sieves.

These light points were being drawn out by the Purple Crystal, like fireflies in the night, slowly drifting towards Yi Yun.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Yi Yun's mouth. The Purple Crystal needed time to absorb the medicinal power, and Zhao Tiezhu's chatter was just what he needed.

"Damn it! Do you think I'm negotiating with you!?" Zhao Tiezhu slammed the table, startling the old man with the goatee.

"You, a lowly peasant, are fortunate to have a place where you can be of some use. Yet you still hesitate! The Lian Clan doesn't feed freeloaders. Either be a warrior or work honestly! Hand over an additional two ounces of herbs tomorrow, and get out!"

Yi Yun, after being scolded by Zhao Tiezhu, seemed to turn pale and stiffen.

People thought Yi Yun was humiliated. A child of eleven or twelve, being publicly insulted and in such a harsh manner, the impact was obvious.

Zhao Tiezhu, seeing Yi Yun's face turn from green to white, a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes.

Jiang Xiaorou, feeling sorry for Yi Yun, tugged at him, but Yi Yun stood rooted to the spot, as if stunned by the insults.

"Almost done absorbing... If I keep going, Lian Chengyu will suspect."

Yi Yun didn't take Zhao Tiezhu seriously, treating him like a barking mad dog. He was considering how much medicinal power to absorb.

Absorbing about 70-80% should be enough. He needed to leave some for Lian Chengyu; otherwise, the good herbs in the sieves would look like weeds, and even a fool would notice something was wrong.

Yi Yun couldn't afford to conflict with the Lian Clan's upper echelons yet. He could take out Zhao Tiezhu, but compared to the old clan leader and Lian Chengyu, he still had a significant gap.

The Purple Crystal absorbed the medicinal power and quickly entered Yi Yun's bloodstream, nourishing his body through the circulatory system. Yi Yun felt a warm current filling his meridians, spreading throughout his limbs, making his body gradually warm and his face turn rosy.

Yi Yun felt light and weightless, as if floating in the clouds.

To the onlookers, Yi Yun's reaction seemed unbearable. His face was flushed, his neck red, and his limbs weak, clearly the result of Zhao Tiezhu's insults.

"Poor child, so young, and just because he contradicted Zhao Tiezhu during the food distribution, he's being targeted like this."

"This child's life is hard. His mother died of illness shortly after they joined the Lian Clan. He is weak and sickly, with no strength to resist Zhao Tiezhu."

"When will the Warrior Training Camp stop terrorizing the countryside? Do you think Lian Chengyu can really take us to the city?"

"Shh, don't talk nonsense. Be careful the Warrior Training Camp doesn't hear you, or you'll be in trouble too!"

"I think this child will eventually be killed by them..."

Herbal gathering in the mountains always results in some deaths. The more precious the herbs, the more likely they are to grow on sheer cliffs. Yi Yun must have risked his life to gather so many good herbs. If this continues, it's a miracle he won't fall to his death.

But in the Lian Clan, what does a death matter? Human life here is the cheapest.

...

Deep into the night, the moon hung in the sky like a silver hook.

In the medicine room of the Lian Clan's chief's courtyard, several men were vigorously pulling the bellows, using a pile of firewood to heat a large pot.

Several old men in the medicine room carefully sorted the herbs, combining dozens of auxiliary herbs to start boiling the medicinal soup.

The auxiliary herbs and the fire control were secrets of the Lian Clan, not to be revealed to ordinary people. Otherwise, these people might secretly gather and consume the herbs.

In the eyes of the Lian Clan's upper echelons, using good herbs on ordinary people was like feeding good food to pigs, completely useless.

Not to mention ordinary people, even the members of the Warrior Training Camp had few opportunities to use herbs to cleanse their bodies.

These carefully prepared medicinal soups were all for Lian Chengyu.

"Good! Good! This time you did well. The herbs you collected include many rarities!"

The chief, looking at the list of herbs, was very satisfied.

"This is what I should do," Zhao Tiezhu nodded rapidly, with a fawning smile. "The chief's instructions are about Lian Chengyu's future. How could I fail? After training today, I went straight to the medicine mountain to supervise the peasants. They are timid and dare not climb the cliffs. I was anxious and climbed up myself. I was lucky and found these Wu Lingzhi and Dan Guo."

Zhao Tiezhu took all the credit for Yi Yun's work.

"Good! You're thoughtful. Go to the warehouse and get a pound of dried meat." The chief patted Zhao Tiezhu's shoulder.

"Thank you, Chief!" Zhao Tiezhu said, overjoyed.

"Um, work hard. When Chengyu becomes a divine warrior, he'll need some assistants. If you're smart, you'll earn his favor and stay by his side. When Chengyu rises to power, you'll benefit too."

"Thank you, Chief, for your guidance!" Zhao Tiezhu knelt and bowed, extremely excited.

That boy Yi Yun is truly my lucky star. I never thought this little slave would be so good at gathering herbs. In the future, I can give him a bit of herb residue and coarse grain as a reward. That poor boy will be grateful for anything, and he'll be willing to be my lackey!

Zhao Tiezhu imagined himself wielding power in the big city and left with a spring in his step.

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